A Day A Step, A Step A Day
by afiqah
Summary: It's hard enough to make your best friend fall for you. It's really tough when she doesn't appreciate romantic gestures like every other girl. It's immensely arduous when you aren't in the best shape to do it. KouichixRaimei
1. Chapter 1

My eyes washed over the many faces before me. The performing arts group from China, The Swan, were seated in an orderly, tightly-knit huddle in the front of the stands. All were young, their ages likely not far off from my own. The rest of the stands were empty. It should be. The Taipei Municipal Stadium was the last venue for The Swan's tour. They were a pioneering troupe, specializing in Chinese performing arts. That itself was not new. They were a pioneering group for their entire act, save for the trapeze, was on ice. Me and my partner, Kurookano Shijima, were standing in front of the troupe as their coach introduced us. The both of us were figure skaters and guest performers on this last tour venue performance of theirs. I was, admittedly, a little nervous at how they would respond to us. If they did so positively, then the rest of the one-and-a-half months, I would have nothing to worry about. But if not, then well, it would be uncomfortable. I stole a glance at Shijima. Her face wore no expressions as she stared into the troupe. She looked somewhat intimidating, i noted, if one did not know her. i must bring this matter up sometime. She did not even look like she was paying attention to what the coach was saying. I sighed inwardly. The sigh was meant to be irritated but i found her habitual flaws like these amusing. So the sigh came as an amused one. We have been friends way too long for me to get irked at things like that.

The situation at the stadium was far from favourable. The ice rink was no more than a shallow, rectangular pool of water. Bright orange refrigerator lines, resembling normal bright orange wires, arranged neatly along the length of the pool were meant to freeze the ice. To little effect apparently, as I looked onto the scene. This was bad. It takes at least a few weeks to get the ice hard enough that it was safe for skating. Even if the rink was properly frozen by the shortest of estimates, it meant that the troupe, and Shijima and I, had only a day to train for the preformance before it commenced on the day after. The Swan were visibly forlorn. I heard snatches of their conversation before, all of them charged with anxiety on how the unprofessionally unprepared ice-rink would affect the quality of their act. Some were in dire need to practice move they were not even good at yet. As The Swan was being pep-talked by their coach at the stands, Shijima and I were seated out of ear-shot behind the troupe.

"Looks bad, huh?" she said, like stating an observation, nothing more. Her face however, in the way her eyes were half-lidded as opposed to her normal scarily wide-eyed expression, told me of her worry.

"Exceptionally," I answered, frowning. "We're all performers. I know how it feels to be inadequately prepared for an act. The worst case scenario."

"Yeah. No need to be concerned that our names will be ruined if we do our routine bad too. We are guest performance because we're a little bit special, and a little bit special enough to draw in more crowds for these people, or so The Swan's publicist hopes," she drawled, giving me a despairing look.

I laughed. "Hey, my heart goes out to them."

"Get your heart back in it's place, Kouichi."

"Hm," I said simply, smiling. "I'm coming back tonight to see how the ice is coming."

Shijima cocked an eyebrow at me. "Sure? 'Cause your loss if I yell at you tomorrow for blundering due to sleep lack."

I snickered.

* * *

It was pitch black at the back of the stadium where the generators for the refrigerator lines were supposed to be. The time was about 12.45 in the morning. I couldn't and didn't want to check what the real time was. Not in particular. The dark was irritating. I wanted to see clearly, I needed light, and I felt like just swatting the dark away like it was a black piece of cloth draped across my face. The beam of my torch finally found the generator and I neared the machine. I didn't quite understand the point of me being here myself. I knew not what I could do that would help the situation of the rink in any way. When a person asks you for help, you try to render it. If you can't render that help, you try to seek something that would help that person get the help he needs. And when you know that you can't do that either, you pretend that you can help him until he realizes that you really cannot be of much service. Taking a look at the generators felt like that. Like a show of concern, because I really was concerned but I couldn't do anything useful to aid the no-ice situation.

Before I even reached the generator, I suddenly felt my legs being kicked out from under me. Startled, I whipped my heavy torch like a dagger towards my attacker. My torch was parried with a long object. The impact jarred my hand as my muscles tensed. I ground my feet into the soil, assuming what I assumed was a fighting stance. The torch was busted and as it flickered on and off and on and off, the light washed over the face of my assailant and me.

"OH! YOU!!!" as if trying to remember my name but failing and settling with a 'you' instead. " Oh my god oh no," a voice cried. It was the voice of someone who felt that she had made a big mistake. In an instant, the immediate area around us two was washed with light. She had a torch too of course. Peripheral white clouds floated from our mouths into the space between us as we panted hard.

"I'm so, so sorry! I was checking out the generators and I saw your light and I knew that no one else was supposed to be out here so I thought you were some.. _person,_" she said the last word as if the other substitutes for it that had come to mind were offensive, "come to like, spoil the machines or something." She laughed nervously at that, as if expecting me to agree with her about the stupidity of her actions. I supposed she thought what she did was stupid.

She was one of the performers of The Swan. I saw her when Shijima and I were being introduced to the troupe yesterday. It took me a moment to recognize her. She was wearing a hat this time. It was the kind of hat you saw on the heads of high-ranking officials in the navy, except this one was black. Another reason I hadn't recognized her on sight was because her long, neatly tied up blonde locks from yesterday were now stuffed underneath her hat, with a few errant locks spilling out of the black head accessory due to the short prior violent confrontation. She was gripping a wooden sword in one hand with an expert grip while the other held the flashlight. She wore a thick woolen blue turtle-neck sweater and very baggy grey jeans.

"Ah," she said. _Awkward_, she meant. "I know I'm going to sound like the biggest loser for asking you this," she started, with an edge of apprehension in her expression, "but what's your name again. I know," she laughed lightly, "I wasn't really listenting. Heh. Sorry." I think she is talking about the introduction where mine and Shijima's names were announced to the troupe.

I held my hands over my torso, palms out, indicating that it was really no big deal. "Aizawa Kouichi. Your name?"

"Shimizu Raimei." Her eyes narrowed. "What _are_ you doing here?" She clenched the hilt of her sword, looking for all the world like a warrior ready to defend, i don't know, her nation? Her speech and her actions give me directly opposite impressions of her and I'm getting confused.

"And you?"

"I was checking on the generators. I told you that already." Normally a girl would be a little scared being alone in the dead of the night with a guy, with unknown intentions, she barely even knows in a place where no one could hear her screams. I wasn't about to try anything of course. That was unthinkable. But I suppose being armed and, by the looks of it, trained with a sword, can do much to put any girl's heart at ease when venturing out at night. Being in a circus troupe very likely has put her in prety good shape too.

"Me the same." Her brows were raised slightly. "I'm in your performances too right? Why would I sabotage it?" That did it. She believed me.

"Alright then. Bye." Giving me a short smile out of politeness, she strode past me into the night.

I followed, trying to fall in step next to her. I had no more light source to guide me out of the encompassing dark fo the stadium premises and into the lighted streets of Taipei, and Raimei seemed to know more about the situation of the generator than I did, judging by the way she looked it over. If I were to be more informed of the machine, my night would not have been a total waste. She always walked a little faster than me though on purpose, even as I asked her questions. "How is the generator looking?"

"Genera_tors_ actually. Another one was added to speed up the freezing process. They both seem to be working at full speed. I don't know whether this is enough though. Did you see? When the workers added crushed ice to the rink to try and speed the freezing up. It totally messed up the refrigerator lines. The lines are supposed to be neatly arranged, or else the ice will form unevenly. That's what I think at least."

* * *

We talked and talked. It was amazing, the instant bond that sparked between us after the lingering hostilities diffused away into the air. I never understood what authors said in books about knowing someone just for a while but feeling like you've "known them your whole life". I found that tremendously corny, or so Raimei-san would say. But I finally understood that famous authors' phrase tonight. After a while she stopped leaving me trailing behind her and we walked in step, trudging the path back to the hotel The Swan performers and Shijima and I were staying in. As we walked, it dawned on me that the hat was to make her look more like a boy at a glance. It worked I supposed. I wouldn't say that conversation flowed between us as easily and smoothly as a clock ticks from one hour to the next, but the occasional silence... I don't think either of us thought much of that. It seemed that our personality wavelengths were so very compatible. I just felt happy being with her. Happy is such a simple word, but an appropriate one to describe a.. simple elatedness. We smiled as we conversed, even though neither of us had said anything particularly funny nor were we discussing an especially cheery topic. It had more to do with the fact that we were in each other's presence. When we reached the lobby of the hotel, it seemed as natural as anything that she ask that we sit together for our meals. If she hadn't asked first, I would have asked a moment later. No, Shijima wouldn't mind, I assured her.

As I bid my goodbyes to Raimei-san and Raimei-san waved goodbye to me, I think it went without being said that we had become best friends. Not the kind of friends whose care and companionship for each other swelled as time skipped forward, but the kind of friends who needed each other as our friendship offered what time could not, and that is a kind of subconscious knowledge that we were deliberately created so we could be friends.

***

There ain't enough KouichiXRaimei luve and you know it.

I'm using the TextEdit programme on a Mac so the first letter in every sentence isn't automatically capitalised and neither are the "I"s in the story. So, sorry if you see these punctuation mistakes despite my proof-reading!

I am often, often, very often told that my stories have many holes in it in terms of me explaining things in the story. This is because _I_ know what I'm trying to convey 'cause it _is_ my story so I forget that not many people can read my thoughts straight from the inside of my head. Even if I do remember, I just can't see these holes. So when you find something you don't understand, PLEASE copy and paste that segment into a review. I really want to get better at this, really I do. And thanks in advance if you do want to help me!! *smiles!*

regardless, review please!!!!


	2. Chapter 2

When I called her "Raimei-san" as a joke she smiled in a nostalgic sort of way so I persisted with that nickname.

"Just so we're even with the formalities, why don't I call you Aizawa?"

I didn't quite see why she shouldn't, so that was that.

"Aizawa sounds way cooler than Kouichi anyway," she laughed at that, her liquid-honey irises searching my face for any sign of reproach. She got none.

* * *

Raimei-san was right. The ice in the stadium rink did form unevenly. Time today which should have been spent practicing was utilized instead for advertizing the event. There was a day-long celebration going on in Taipei and The Swan performers were to do some stunts on the street to bring the crowd's attention to the performance being held a few weeks from that day. As part of the troupe, Shijima and I had to tag along, despite our not being able to contribute anything. We were _on-ice_ figure-skaters after all. Shijima had found other companions among The Swan performers so, during the period we were given to eat lunch, Raimei-san and I found a clean-enough step to sit on as we ate while Shijima ate with her new buds. The rest of the performing crew was a ways away from us, so Raimei-san could eat with embarrassing etiquette without anyone we know staring too much.

"Since I don't need to eat pretty, I won't eat pretty."

"I worry for your white jacket." I wasn't.

"Dude, re_lax_. I've been eating for nineteen years." So she knows what she's doing?

"Doing something for a long time doesn't guarantee you doing that something right. Like trying to be patient."

"Or your thinking process."

"I take offence!" I laughed. She smiled.

An old lady was walking towards the direction of the steps we were sitting on. The steps we were sitting on led to a train station. She looked obviously troubled, turning her head slightly this way and that, contemplating something. Unlike the hordes of people moving around her, gazing straight ahead, destination in mind, she wasn't paying much attention to path she was walking to her destination, but more of her problem. Not to say that she was walking aimlessly. She was just distracted.

I don't know what possessed me to do what I did. It wasn't like it was something I had tried doing before. Nevertheless, as the woman approached, I asked her, from my position on the steps, how she was doing, the way anyone would ask an aged person how they were doing. Her reply was fast, the way some aged people's replies were sometimes. I did catch that she was on her way to the doctor and she needed ten dollars to see the doctor and she wasn't sure whether her son had put in money into her bank account for the doctor visit like she had asked him to and what she should do if she didn't have the money. She was such a sweet lady that I felt instantaneously sorry for her. She was about to pass Raimei-san and I now. It was either I help her now or let her pass me by.

I stood up and asked if I could be of assistance.

"Well, Dear, if you could, could you help me check the balance in my bank card?"

"Of course," I replied automatically, beaming.

The three of us headed to the nearest Automatic Teller Machines. Miraculously, none of the troupe realized us going. It seemed that way at least. Raimei-san grinned conspiratorially at me. Nobody had called out to stop us and the troupe was specifically instructed not to wander. At the ATM, I slotted in the old lady's card. She must have thought me a really trustworthy person, as Raimei-san pointed out later, for the lady told me her bank account number, which I promptly punched in. The screen then revealed that the lady had.. nothing in her bank account. Absolutely zero. I felt my brows furrow as Raimei-san's eyes dilated when she saw the figure on the screen. Her son hadn't sent her money after all.

"Umm.. Sorry, ma'am. There's no money in your account," I said, unsure of my intonation. My mind was racing for a solution as I slowly handed her her bank card.

"Oh... Really?" the lady said, the same distracted, worried look returning to mar her expression. "Alright then." It can't be helped, she implied. "Thank you young man, young lady," nodding to each of us in turn with a small appreciative smile. I felt greatly downcast and helpless. All she needed was ten dollars, and I didn't have that money on me right then, and neither did Raimei-san. It struck me suddenly, how important money was, for it to be within your power to render monetary help to anyone. She turned and walked awa-

"WAIT!" yelled Raimei-san. I winced. How inappropriate her bellowing was, considering that the woman was just ten paces away. I hoped the troupe coach wasn't anywhere near enough to hear that.

The head of everyone within earshot, mine and the old woman's included, whipped to her direction. Raimei-san grabbed my arm and strode over to the old woman.

"Wait. We'll help you, just give us a while."

And with an strong clap on the woman's shoulder and a reassuring smile, she took her black hat off her head and threw it onto the ground before her in one fluid motion, grabbed a pole leaning against an empty cart next to us, and twirled it impressively over her head before abruptly bringing it down with one end of the pole dangerously close to the space between my bespectacled eyes. "STAND AND DELIVER YOU FIEND!" she shouted, eyes ablaze with rage and murderous intent. A wind whistled through the streets, lifting the ends of her hair, creating the effect of her blonde crowning glory coming alive with the force of her ire.

"_Ha_-?!?!!"

I had only a second to respond before the pole came whipping through the air towards my torso, and boy did I respond. Had I been a lesser athlete, the pole would have reached it's mark, but I had evaded. My eyelids flew back and my heart rate skyrocketed. My mind was whirling. What-? WHY? Did Raimei-san have a split personality? No, the notion was too stupid. Allergic reaction? Did I do something horribly, fantastically wrong? But she was fine a minute ag- SHOOT! She had executed a perfect somersault into the air and, like a levitating nymph of COMPLETELY-UNCALLED-FOR DEATH, she was holding her pole high over her head while in mid-air, ready for the strike. I dived to my left. A sickening_ thwack _reverberated through the air from where the pole met concrete ground. There was a hushed crowd around us now, in a tight circle, meaning as many people as humanly possible had joined the crowd and were witnessing Raimei-san's public fit. They formed something akin to a solid wall around Raimei-san and I but with a substantially large area left for us to "fight". That was what the crowd expected us to do at least. I could see the old woman, melded into the crowd, watching my dear friend and I. Oh dear. I was really confused now. Raimei-san was brandishing, twirling and slicing her pole into the air this way and that, like a routine. I had no idea how a menacing routine would help in combat, but it _was_ menacing and menace was an interestingly advantageous element to have in a battle. It sure worked on me. Duck, roll, leap, fake-right, run. It cotinued like this for a period of time much too long for me to bear with. 6 minutes? I was gasping, sweat rolling down my back as I crouched on one knee. Raimei-san was visibly worn too. Her pole was slick with the sweat of her palms and her chest was rising and falling like it did after a long training session on the trapeze. My mental capacity had only allowed me to comprehend how best to avoid injury the entire time she was attacking me and I had no time to think what to do about her crazed behaviour. Now that we were both catching our breath, My tired mind struggled to form a solution. Her coach would know what to do, sure, but he wasn't here right now was he? Should I just wait it out? Aw man, I don't have much time before she starts up again. I don't think well under pressure. How could-!

In an instant, her face switched from livid to shining satisfaction as her face erupted into a dazzling smile reserved only for the stage. Applause. I could not believe it. What in heaven's name-? She bowed, her arms open to the wave of adoring applause. Raimei-san picked up her hat, which I had long forgotten about, from the ground and walked the perimeter of the space we were given by the closely-packed crowd. The spectators threw what was undoubtedly... _money_. Money in the form of happily clinking coins and stately dollar bills came tumbling into the hat. My mouth was agape for a while before I noticed it was. As the last coin was thrown among its brethren in the black hat, Raimeisan bowed one last time, to the utter delight of the crowd, and thanked them for their time. She jogged over to me, grinning. Warily, I took one step back. She had let the pole fall to the ground at some point but I ain't taking any chances.

"Aizawa," she said, her tone a serious one. She was frowning slightly now. "You are the worst actor I have ever seen."

I just stared, indicating the need for an explanation.

"That was an act wasn't it? You couldn't tell that? Surely you..," she trailed off. "OH MY GOD!!" She sat, more of fell into seating position, on the ground and immediately started counting the money in the hat. Her lips opened and closed slightly and quickly as she murmured to herself. "Five-eighty, 'thirty, 'fifty..." When she was done, she leaped to her feet and ran. Startled, I looked at the direction she was running and saw the old lady from before. Waiting. Just like Raimei-san had asked her to. My friend's voice carried to me as she spoke. "Ten dollars. Just nice!" she said, handing the money to the old lady. I couldn't catch what was said afterward, but what I could tell from watching them converse was enough. The lady was grateful, and Raimei-san waved away the thank-yous.

Minutes later, as the two of us walked back to where we left the rest of the troupe, Raimei-san halted in mid-discussion of what excuse we would tell the coach who would certainly have noticed we were missing considering the amount of time we were away.

"That was nice,huh?" she stated softly, as though the thought had just floated into her mind. Her head tilted skywards and she slid the brim of her hat so it was no longer jutting over her head. Abruptly, she faced me again and said laughingly, "It's almost as if we were purposely moved to sit on the steps of the train station don't you think? So the lady would meet us and you could offer her help."

I smiled in agreement. "We wouldn't know," was my only reply.

Like a memory I had never noticed, I suddenly realized I was in love with Raimei-san.

***

Same as the chapter before and the upcoming chapter, when you find something you don' t understand, copy ad paste it into a review and I'll edit it the best I can!! Tell me if you like the story! Heheh!


	3. Chapter 3

Well this was exceedingly uncomfortable. Raimei-san was glassy-eyed and staring me down, as if I've done her some great injustice.

"I just want to be alone right now okay?" she started, her voice straining with the effort of trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy in tone. Her voice had cracked and her face a strong red hue from the potential onslaught of tears. I felt torn. "I don't like it when people try to comfort me when I'm crying. Like they don't think I can handle my own tears. 'Cause I _can_. I appreciate it," she doesn't sound like she does, "but unless you're my brother, I'd like it more if you just keep your distance." That was cold and I know she knew it, but her eyes pleaded for me to understand.

"Okay." She should let me help her. It would be nobody's loss.

She smiled a twisted smile, a smile which contained pleasure at my compliance, and unrelenting sadness in equal parts. With one last meaningful look, I turned and walked out of the props room, now empty of people save for one downcast girl.

The coach had decided that the trapeze acts should practice, earlier that day. It had been close to three weeks since they had last rehearsed and the coach did not want the persistent lack of ice to compromise the quality of the acts. Raimei-san was a trapeze acrobat, sharing her performance with only one other acrobat. As expected of one going so long without practice, she was shaky with her routine, failing to latch her legs around the trapeze after her partner swung her toward it. I was there watching the rehearsal when her partner, perched easily on the fixed metal trapeze, slipped and fell eight meters onto the semi-frozen ice rink below. She had had no safety line. It was so fast and unexpected it took a moment before anyone could react. The partner had broken her leg and there was no way she could perform then. Raimei-san's act was taken out of the overall performance.

It had been a few hours since that incident had passed and left Raimei-san completely devastated. The Swan's tour was her debut, and on the most important performance of the tour, she was rendered unable to perform. Although I had exitted the props room, I stayed outside the closed door to the room, careful to be quiet. I didn't feel right leaving, despite what Raimei-san had expressed before. I had never met someone who felt extremely insulted if someone tried to comfort them. Leaning with my back against the door, I could hear the gasping sobs of Raimei-san in the props room. An ideal place to cry, since the rest of the troupe was out in the stadium practicing their routine without skates. No one would bother her here. I could hear her mumbling to herself, trying to ease her turbulent emotions. It was as if there was a stake driven deep into the center of my heart, and as each minute slithered by, a force increasingly applied pressure to the part of the stake jutting out till, little by little, like a lever, it split my heart cleanly into two.

***

Tap, tap, tap. It was night time. I thank God that Raimei-san's room is on the first story. It makes sneaking out at night so much easier.

She doesn't come to the window. I sigh. First story rooms also mean that it's occupants get hit hardest by the blare of traffic. A vehicle honks loudly on the street adjacent to the building Raimei-san and the rest of the troupe were staying in. I wince. Maybe I should tap harder. TAP, TAP-

A face looms from behind the dark glass of the window. I would have squeeked if I wasn't expecting it.

Blinking blearily and obviously confused, Raimei-san slides open the window, raising her eyebrows at me. "Aizawa...? What are you...? Why didn't you just use the front door?" she slurred, her mouth still heavy having just woke up. Her hair was unbound and unkempt, her fringe framing her face in a most unflattering manner. She had on an old long-sleeved shirt and grey sweatpants. As she rubbed her face with both hands to wake herself up, I took the oppurtunity to smile at how charming she looked. I let my smile fall the moment her hands fell to her sides. I didn't want any awkward questions.

"Knocking your door and risk waking somebody? Not the smoothest idea. You feeling good?"

She laughed. "You did NOT come all the way here just to check that I wasn't crying anymore. And it's so cold out!" Hell yeah. She's grateful.

"Like you're that important," I joked.

Raimei-san smiled twistedly again, but not in the way that broke my heart. It was a smile that asked for a challenge. "Yeah, I'm pret-ty awesome. So glad you noticed." Boasting was like a jest between us, one that neither of us were to take seriously. "No really, what are you here for?"

"Get your coat Raimei-san. I want to do a little sight-seeing."

After Raimei-san changed into something warmer, made sure her roomie was sound asleep and clambered out of her window, we dashed down the streets.

My heart was pumping unevenly, erratically. I could hardly breathe, and there was a feeling of pain following a distinct line across my chest. It felt like running together with Raimei-san had caused an unseen scythe to descend through the air and slash savagely at my torso. I was bleeding; red, hot blood dripping to the ground at my feet.

It felt _great_.

"Shijima would be coming," I started.

"Oh! Well I shouldn't have expected anything less from you," she said, almost laughing in surprise. "Virtuous and all," she drawled. Eversince the incident with the old lady, for which we were caught in the end, the coach had been cautious with us. Normally, according to Raimei-san, he would have punished anyone acting out of line without a heartbeat of hesitation, but considering that I was a guest performer and not exactly under him, his sentence for us both was lighter- Shijima was to watch over us constantly. I just worried that it was a bother to Shijima.

"So you expected less of me?"

"Get used to it. So where are we going? Hey, where's Shijima? Wait a second. And she _agreed_ to _come with us_? What level of bribery did you have to resort to to bring her?!" As with everyone she's ever met, Shijima exudes the impression that she hates missing sleep.

"---- Park (A/N: obviously, I don't know Taiwan). She's meeting us there and, between you and me," I lowered my voice as if discussing some manner of treason, "there are some things friends are willing to do for each other without accepting bribery."

"Wow. You know how to get there?"

"No. We might get lost." Where I had expected to see bewilderment and irritation on her face in reaction to my words was only an instant flash of delight.

"Oh, it's okay! I don't mind getting lost. Are the cabbies here... dependable?"

"Yes?"

"Then brilliant! You know, back home, the transportation system is so efficient and.. how do I say it. It isn't sparse you know? Sparse as in only a few places have train stations and bus stops. The complete opposite. Where I lived, the the whole town is so well-connected that you could get lost, without actually getting lost. You just march right over to the nearest train station, which is never really far away, and if it is, you just ride a bus to the station, and you just ride a train back to your neighbourhood, 'cause every neighbourhod had it's own train station."

"So you're never really lost." We had slowed to a walk now. Although I had never been to ---- Park, I was glad I could rely on the signage. It made it plain where we had to go to reach the park.

"Yeah," she said. Her eyes were distant as she smiled, as if looking beyond her surroundings and into her memories of her homeland. Her homeland.. She must miss it. I wouldn't know, I've never missed my home, but from past friendships, with people who have expressed their homesickness to me, and watching numerous movies that Shijima has dragged me to, I have sort of inferred that people in general tend to yearn for their homes. Odd. "You know I've always wanted to get lost on purpose. Just hop on a bus and let it take you where it may then get off and have a look around. Just relishing that feeling of freedom that being lost gives you. 'Cause you're like, no longer bound by any objectives or destinations. It's just you and a nameless place with a promise of the unexpected."

"Thursdays would be a good day to get lost then," I mused.

She pursed her lips to the side, her eyes dancing with expectation. "Hey, what day is it today?"

"It's..," I jogged over to a news stand and checked the day on the newspapers, "...Thursday." Shock. It can't really be. I had not intended to say that Thursday was a good day to get lost because that day was Thursday.

"What a coincidence," she chimed.

***

She wanted to get lost, right then, right there, and I was helpless to object. As friends, we took pleasure in each other's pleasure, and her thrill became my own.

"Hello, Shijima?" I said into my cell phone. "There's been a change of plan. You can go back now... I _have_ become your responsibility, I am aware... I'm sorry, I made you wake up for nothing I know, but this is important... Yes, sleep is important too. Okay, I owe you big time I get it. I know what the number is, you don't need to-" I sighed. "----- (A/N: the number to call to contact the police). Bye."

A snapped my clamshell cellphone shut and smiled apologetically at Raimei-san.

"Well now that that's settled," she declared loudly, "ONWARD!"

Five minutes later, we were in a cab meandering down the streets. The prior thrill I had felt was short-lived. I re-adjusted my glasses on my nose. I was having my second doubts on this plan. I thought of the heap of tirades waiting for us when we got back and the heap was mentally piling up in my head. The prospect of it washed over me and engulfed me so completely that I was astounded at how I managed not to consider it before undertaking this plan of getting lost. I was sure as anything that the coach would not exercise the same restraint when punishing us if he found out what we were doing this time. And what image would he have of me and Shijima then? I turned to Raimei-san to voice my views.

"Raim-"

"Alriiiight...," she said softly, almost trembling in her seat in pure, unadulterated excitement. "I've never done something this serious before. You know we are going to get so busted if Coach finds out."

"We will."

"But who needs him!" She proceeded to release an inelegant laugh. "Now all we have to make sure of is that we have a great time so this is all worth it." It was here that she paused to scrutinize my face in the dim interior of the cab.

"You're not worried are you Aizawa?"

"Yea-"

"Wait. This is gonna be great. We _have_ to do this. We-um- we're only.. young once right?" I raised my eyebrows. That was a highly uncharacteristic remark for Raimei-san to make. "Aizawa...! Come on, can't you feel the adrenaline rush?! And what the heck right 'cause...."

"'Cause what?"

"Ah!" she exclaimed, batting her last few solemn-toned words away as a smile shone from her face. "Never mind."

I relaxed into the upholstery of the cab seat. Fine. I was convinced. We'd go ahead. She was my best friend after all. If I risked something for her I wouldn't be risking anything at all.... I am cheesy.

"Alright so you asked this cab to take us to ----- Centre in the next town right?"

"That's what I did."

"Brilliant. 'Kay, we're gonna ask the driver to stop mid-way through the trip and let us off."

"Serious?"

"Yeah," she sing-songed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How else are we gonna get lost?"

She was right. I I had taken up residence in Taipei for some months now and I did know where everything was in general, even if I didn't know how to get to those places specifically. "And now we will spontaneously choose an unplanned destination?"

"Yeah we are. Now close your eyes. We both will." A gossamer blanket of woven silence swathed us in it's soft material as the silence lengthened. Aside from the rumbling of the cab and unnamed music spewing from the radio, all was quiet. We continued on like this until soon the only reminder that Raimei-san was sitting next to me was the feeling of her faint body heat. "Please stop the car!"

_Screech! _

***

I blinked and I blinked as I took in the scene before me. We had stopped at a small village where a fair was being held. I remembered then, that it was the festive season. I was unbelieving of how Raimei-san could have conveniently picked this place with her eyes closed. There were a good many other empty plots of land before this village but this village was the one she picked.

"Oh _wow_! Would you believe it? We stopped at a fair! God, this must be fate," she said, shaking her head. It was a standard-issue fair. The air smelled like food and the stalls, though arranged in straight rows, managed to look haphazard. We could hear voices raised over the voice of the crowd as stall-owners yelled to fight for the attention of potential customers. Rides were to the left of the fair. The paint was peeling from the rides but they was sturdy and that was good enough. The harsh glare of the lights from the fair lit up the night and the light was different somehow. It struck me as unnatural. Of course, all electrical-powered lights were unnatural but the fact had never struck me before.

I glanced at my watch. "_Damn_," I whispered. Just a little over an hour and a half before daybreak. Considering the amount of time we would need to get back to the hotel, we only had fifteen minutes to check this carnival out, _excluding_ time taken to get another cab.

Following my lead, Raimei-san checked her watch too. She raised her eyebrows and smirked. "Well this is bad. We'll have to speed through what this place has to offer." She grabbed my arm and grinned, giving me a thumbs-up. "Let's kick it into overdrive."

***

I chose the ferris-wheel. I hadn't the first idea why. The ferris-wheel was not fun, it was overrated and it was only good for seeing the sights. "Would you mind riding this?" I asked.

"Oh? You like ferris-wheels?" _Oh. You're the kinda person who likes ferris-wheels?, _she meant.

"I don't know how to say this.. We're _lost_ so..."

"_Yeah_! ...That's a great idea! We're purposely getting lost so we're deviating from the normal conduct of our lives so because we're deviating, we should do something that we don't normally do! Awesome," she said, patting my shoulder in approval.

I laughed. "We really are best friends."

When we boarded the small-ish wheel, we were among the very few who did. It was late, and people mostly came to the fairs for the food. We got a compartment to ourselves. It trembled as the ferris-wheel began it's slow revolution.

"I wanna try something."

"Don't you always."

"Shut up." Raimei-san smiled as she gave me a look that said, _Watch_. Her brown orbs were alight with glee as she leaned out of the compartment and cupped her hand around her mouth. "Hey! HEY!!"

The man manning the controls of the ferris-wheel jerked his head up to the source of the yelling. "YOU WANNA DIE OR WHAT?! GET YOUR HEAD BACK IN THERE!"

"COULD YOU MAKE THIS GO FASTER?"

"OH YOU WANT FASTER?"

The change in speed was apparent. I held tight to the railing of my compartment, a smile pulling the sides of my mouth. Whoops and shouts came from the other people riding the ferris-wheel.

"FASTER!" Raimei-san yelled. Her cheeks were dusted a light pink from the thrill of success.

"What?! Wait!" I shouted. The ferris-whell creaked ominously as the revolutions picked up speed. I had no idea that ferris-wheels were manufactured to go this fast. I would later wonder what would be the point of being built to go fast if it was made to spin agonizingly slowly every time. Our compartment swayed dangerously on its hinges. The air was alive with the yelps and laughs of the two of us as we gripped the rail of our compartment for dear life, the scenery blurring all around us as we reveled in the ridiculous situation of being in a fast-moving ferries-wheel. It was a while a while later before Raimei-san started to look uneasy and spoke.

"AIZAWA?"

"YEAH?"

"YOU KNOW, IN THE CAB I WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING BUT I DIDN'T SAY IT?"

The memory of Raimei-san smiling as she dismissed the words "And what the heck right 'cause.." flashed in my mind. "YEAH."

"WELL..," for a moment there I thought she was about to swallow her words again but, "I WANTED TO SAY THAT WE SHOULDN'T CARE ABOUT THE TROUBLE WE'LL GET INTO AND JUST GO CRAZY 'CAUSE AFTER NEXT WEEK, WE MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO DO THIS AGAIN. WE'RE BEST FRIENDS BUT I'LL BE GOING SOON. I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN WOULD BE THE NEXT TIME WE MEET, OR WHETHER WE'D EVEN HAVE THIS SAME THING GOING ON AT ALL EVEN IF WE DID MEET. SO BEFORE I LET YOU INTO THE PLACE IN MY HEAD WHERE I KEEP THE BEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE, I WANT US TO HAVE JUST ONE MORE GREAT MEMORY," she paused, thinking, "IS THAT OKAY?"

"...RAIMEI-SAN?"

"YES?"

"DON'T WORRY," I smiled, "IF DISTANCE AND THE LENGTH OF TIME SPENT WITH ANOTHER PERSON DEFINES THE INTENSITY OF FRIENDSHIP, I WOULD'VE BEEN BEST FRIENDS WITH MY SKATING COACH A LONG TIME AGO."

Laughs. Raimei-san was glassy-eyed now. It felt funny saying all _this_, of all things, in raised voices so we could be heard over the shouts of the other ferris-wheelers. Raimei-san raised both her hands to shoulder-level, palms outwards facing me. I smiled wider and touched both her palms with my own.

***

The ride was over and the both of us were waiting anxiously at the side of the road, waiting for a fateful taxi to come around so it could take us home. Considering the time, it would be fateful indeed if a taxi came around. It was so very late. The sounds of the fair had died down already. Many had left in the time that Raimei-san and I were on the ferris-wheel.

"Are we ever gonna get home?" Raimei-san whined, pushing her fringe back from her face.

"We _will_ get home," I said firmly. _There's no need to worry about that_.

"Wow. How optimistic of you! That's good, that's good," she commented, nodding in approvement. "Oh wait," she said abruptly, her gaze fixed at a point behind me. I turned and I saw the headlights of a car speeding down the road. It was a cab, no less, and it would drive us right by if we didn't stop it. I felt consoled as relief washed over me. We might make it back in time. Raimei-san threw her hand out to flag the cab. "There isn't anyone inside the cab. This is great," said Raimei-san.

She was nearer to the approaching cab so maybe she had realized something that I didn't.

"Oh my-" she breathed. I felt her yank on my arm so hard it hurt. She was pulling me back, reacting to the road like she just saw the promise of our deaths on it. She hadn't pulled me far enough though.

My vision was filled with the unforgiving glare of the cab's headlights as it veered onto the side of the road Raimei-san and I were on. The world was completely a uniform white and I heard a the screeching sound of tyres that was so close it couldn't possibly have been that loud if those same tyres weren't right in front of me. It was exactly like how movies portrayed traffic accidents to be, except without the gut-wrenching despair and the all-consuming pain.

All was dark.

Hurt. So _much_.

I'm going to die.

At the back of my mind, I could hear the scream of a sorrow so strong it was a solid entity. I think I felt that sorrow brush my cheek.

Black.

***

I think this chapter was a little choppy. Too much editing. *sobs*

I'd sincerely like to thank Animegirl Yuki Minamoto for inspiring me to continue with this story. I had truly, truly given up on this before she reviewed this. I know this isn't very much of a story and the reason there are virtualy no reviews is because there isn't really much to say that won;t be completely negative, but thank you so much Yuki!!! *sniffs*

Okay enough with the crying. *ahem ahem* So.... I was kinda thinking of turning this fic into a high-school fic, something I've totally never done before but I've always found fun to read. What do you think? should I go with that or should Kouichi die forever?

He rocks by the way.

Bye,

afiqah


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